Miguel A. Ortega Vazquez

When choosing a university to study a PhD, I think that it is of paramount importance to bear in mind that one is to spend at least three years of one’s life at that university. Similarly, the supervisor has key role as a mentor and in your professional development. Therefore, one must choose one’s institution wisely.

In my case, I studied a PhD in the area of Power Systems at the University of Manchester (formerly UMIST). The university has one of the world’s leading groups in the area of power system economics, power systems operation, distributed generation and high voltage. Similarly, the Electrical and electronic engineering department offers a world-class research environment that allows the students to concentrate fully on their research. Furthermore, during my PhD I had the opportunity to explore, along with a diverse group of people, different ideas and experiences in the form of group seminars, workshops and lectures with guests highly regarded in the power systems community.

In general, my time as a postgraduate student at Manchester was great in terms of supervision quality and availability of resources. Despite the grey British skies, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience as a postgraduate student.